Bay Street's Orion Securities Inc. has reached a settlement with a
former senior executive who sued the securities firm for $8.5 million for
wrongful dismissal.

In his statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court in September,
Peter Misek claimed that Orion used insider information and dumped shares
of a high-flying biotech company shortly before the firm publicly
announced negative results of a drug trial.

Orion has denied Misek's allegations. Orion chairman John Varghese
confirmed the lawsuit had been settled, but wouldn't disclose terms.

"At the end of the day, we didn't want this to keep going," Varghese
said. "Peter apologized for harm these allegations have caused Orion and
its senior officers."

Misek said he was "pleased to get this over with and I want to get on
with my life."

He said that Orion had pledged to indemnify him, or protect him,
against any future securities-related lawsuits from the time he started at
the company until the settlement was signed.

Misek's lawsuit was the latest controversy to engulf the securities
firm, formerly known as Yorkton Securities Inc.

Misek alleged in his lawsuit Orion had sold all of its holdings in
ConjuChem Inc. prior to the release of trial results.

Misek said in his court filing that an Orion official knew ConjuChem,
whose shares skyrocketed 143 per cent in the first six months of 2004, was
about to release negative trial results for its experimental diabetes
drug.

The company's stock, which had traded as high as $14.90, fell as low as
$2.80 in the wake of the drug trial results.

Misek said he was suspicious of the timing and notified the company's
internal compliance officer to investigate the sale.

That's when Misek alleged his relationships within the company began to
crumble.